Officials mull options if Iraq drawdown halts

[unhappycamper]

Officials mull options if Iraq drawdown halts
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Feb 15, 2008 22:19:36 EST

Should a “pause” of unknown duration be ordered in the drawdown of U.S. troops from Iraq, military planners are looking at all possibilities to extend an over-extended force this summer — to include activating more National Guard and reserve units.

“I don’t think there are any options that are necessarily off the table,” said Army Lt. Gen. Carter Ham, the Joint Chiefs’ director for operations, during a Friday afternoon news conference at the Pentagon.

No pause has yet been announced, and until recently, officials had said President Bush would wait until he has heard the recommendations of Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, as well as those of Central Command chief Adm. William Fallon, Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, the other Joint Chiefs and Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Petraeus will meet with the chiefs, Gates, Bush and Congress sometime in April.

But a pause now seems likely. In early January, Bush, recounting a Jan. 12 meeting with Petraeus in Kuwait, said he told the general: “If you want to slow her down, fine; it’s up to you.”

Bush said he also told Petraeus that any decision the general recommended “needs to be based upon success.”


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/military_iraq_extendforces_080215w/

[jimshoes]

1. Must be a regular thing now to have your

service extended and extended again because there are just not enough replacements to be had. That has to be a real morale booster. Not.